We continued to walk towards our next class, eventually stopping in a hallway to bid each other goodbye.

I sighed deeply. Smiling towards Ollie, I asked "Promise you'll talk to me from now on Ollie?" with a little bit of emphasis on the last word.

He sighed. "Yes..." he stated.

"Give me your word."

"Okay, now you're just teasing me Skye."

"I mean it..."

Silence.

"Okay.... I give you my word..." he said, looking away.

"Look me in the eye when you say it..." I replied, making my hand move his face to look at me.

He chuckled. "Okay... I give you my word."

I hugged him one last time. Ollie jumped a little bit. But then he grew less tense. He patted my back for a minute.

Then I removed myself from the embrace and I waved my hand to signal him goodbye.

He smiles, waves back and walks away. After another minute had passed I turned and went to my locker.

I then stopped in front of my locker and opened it. I looked inside it, and I froze.

Inside it, was a picture.

And this picture...Was from months ago. I felt angry... Betrayed even. I mean, only like five other people were there, and even they don't know what happened at that very moment.

A voice then spoke. A voice that I recognized. It said "You all right Skylar?"

I didn't respond though. I just continued to be frozen with panic, fear, and shock.

The voice spoke again, this time, saying "You know, it's considered polite to respond to somebody." The voice seemed a little bit more worried.

"How?" I inquired, "How on Earth did they know about this?" I was on the verge of crying, which I think she could tell that too, because she looked at me.

"Hey," she said, patting my back with reassurance, "What is it?"

She then looked into my locker, and her eyes widened. She walked away for a moment, and I followed her movements with my eyes. I slid to my knees.

She came back after a few moments. She then kneeled down to my level and forced me to look her in the eyes.

"I told nobody else Melissa... So how..." I trailed off into a sobbing fit, "I thought he wouldn't say... Anything at all... So why wou-"

Melissa put a hand over my mouth to shut me up. "Head to class. I'll catch up." she said, holding a hand out.

I took it, and she brought me to my feet.

"W-W-What're you going to do?" I asked fearfully.

She stared at me for a moment. "I'm going to teach some kids some kindness etiquette." she growled.

"Y-Y-You don't have to... Its my problem... T-T-To deal with it... save your own self... I'm on The List..."

"Yes... I must... Just go to class... I'll resolve this..."

Melissa hastily grabbed the papers, and clenched both fists, causing the papers to scrunch up.

She stood there until I decided to nod in understanding and then she watched me leave.

I headed to class with a slightly tear stained face.

This wasn't going to end well. I continued to walk down the hallway, reminiscing over what had just passed. Melissa, the school's "Silent Rebel", wanted to help me, who is on The List.

I laughed haphazardly.

Why?

That question bombarded my mind as I slowed my walk to a stop.

It didn't feel right. I couldn't just leave her. Yeah, she seemed confident in herself, but I could tell that she wasn't too sure of what happened.

I thought that I should tell her.

Wait a sec, I told myself, Do I even trust her? I hesitated for a moment.

I didn't really need to be in that class, it was only art, my only good class.

I walked on and on, my gaze on the barren brown tile. I sighed a large amount of time.

I reached out to grab the doorknob, but I stopped. It didn't feel right, I can't leave her to deal with my problems.

I frantically reached a shaky hand into my pocket, and I pulled out my phone.

I unlocked it, and opened a messaging app.

I opened up the messages between me and Oliver, and I texted him.

I wrote 'Meet me by the gym. Please it's urgent' and I hit send.

Relieved, I set my stuff down and I ran towards the gym. Once I had reached the gym, I ran into someone and o fell on my back.

"Oh, I'm sorry Skye." Oliver held his hand out.

"It's alright, I should've been looking where I was going..." I took his hand, and he pulled me up.

"So, what is it?" I showed him the paper.

"How...?"

"I don't know. But Melissa said that she would fix it."

"And that's bad because..."

"I want to fix it on my own! Will you help me?"

He hesitated for a moment.

"Sure," he said, "Why not? I mean it involves the both of us..."

"Thank you so much Ollie!" I hugged him and he used a hand to ruffle up my hair.

"Don't worry, I'll be there for you..."

Most of my day was a blur; I had little to no idea as to what had happened, and to be honest, I didn't care too much about it.

I sat down in the small chair in my final class, I stared off into nothing, wondering what it'd be like in the summer.

"Hello? Skylar? You in there?" A hand dangled in front of my face endlessly.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, pressing a hand to my slipping glasses. I glanced over to Travis, who sighed.

"What exactly is the reason you're soaked?" I asked.

"You can thank Melissa for that."

"Oh. Well don't catch a cold over summer!" I stood up and left the class as the bell rang.

"Hey!" Travis tried to go after me but I was already gone.

I ran out towards the front main parking lot, where I had hoped that I'll never have to deal with the weirdos for two months...

I saw a familiar mop of sandy brown hair that immediately sent me into a happy state. "Ollie!" I called out to him as i waved my arm.

He looked over in my direction, shooting me a shy wave, 'He is still socially awkward...' I sighed heavily at that thought. Will we ever be like how we were before the Incident? I motioned my arm as to have him walk with me back home.

He nervously complied to walking to me. "Whats up?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You don't have to act cool. I think you're pretty chill just the way you are." I laughed.

"Oh, sorry." He turned his head slightly.

"Don't be so stiff." I playfully elbowed his arm.

"Yeah, you'd know all about that wouldn't you?"

"Are you attempting to flirt with me, Mr. Gattaman?"

"I dunno, am I?"

We stared at each other's gaze for a while. I could always get lost in those pretty eyes of his. Then we laughed about it.

"But seriously though," I stated, "You should drop by my place later tonight... I think we should talk to my mom about what happened today..."

"I dunno, do you really want to tell her what happened several months ago?"

"I'm sure if we explain all the circumstances, she'll be alright about it."

"I dunno Skye, this was a serious thing. It won't be taken lightly. My parents would've gone ballistic if they ever found out about what happened..."

"Wait... You haven't told your parents yet?!?!?! What happened to that? Did you get scared?" I taunted him.

"No, I just... Decided that it wasn't necessary to tell them."

"Really, because you're always so honest. Are you becoming a rebel?"

"And what if I am?"

"Don't get too cocky."

He bursts out laughing, and I look at him confused. I then realized what I had said, and I face palmed myself, my face brightening with embarrassment.

"Who's flirting with who now?" he teased.

I punched him harder. "Look, I'm just saying this'll be a whole lot easier if we tell my mom soon, because if she finds out, I'm not sure I want to find out what'll happen."

"Fine. If I come by your house, we'll talk about if and when we'll tell her?"

"You know it'll be harder the longer we wait right?"

"Yes... Yes I do..." he smirked, "You should really watch that mouth of yours really... It'll get you in ALL kinds of trouble." he whispered that last bit in my ear, his husky voice alone causing a knot to form in my stomach.

Why did I like this boy so much? It's already embarrassing having done what I already did. "Well, I guess I'll see you later..." I waved at him.

"Yeah, after I'm done with work."

"Bye Ollie..."

"Later Skye."

I turned my back to the opposite direction of the school, and walked home. I walked through the front door, I saw a note written on the fridge. The messing scrawls I saw reminded me of a kindergartner's first attempts at writing.

It read 'Skylar, I'm going out for work today, I got called into the swing shift, so you won't see me tonight, so make sure Trevor is fed and watered. Remember the rules Skylar, no boys over, even if its summer, to stay the night. I don't trust most of those teenage boys nowadays. Well, except Oliver, he is a good kid. But he can't stay the night, if he does indeed come over, remember, he needs to be on his way home by eleven o' clock sharp, no later. I know how much you like him, my little Skylark, I just don't want to see you here due to a mistake, or worse. Be safe.With lots of love, Mom.'

I felt my eyes water at the note. I am a bad kid. I already almost made that mistake once. And it haunts me in my dreams. I sat down on the couch, relaxing as I flipped through the photo album. I never really knew my father, my mother always told me that he died nine years ago, when he had wandered into the nearby cave located at the park. Since then, my mother had always warned me to be wary of that cave.

I always flipped through the albums, hoping to find something that had the slightest correlation to my father's side of the family. I never found the slightest clue of any relationship my mom had.

I sighed, shutting the book closed, I looked over my shoulder to see Trevor's head lying on his black bed. He seemed to be exhausted, and I realized that I still hadn't fed him his nighttime meal.

I got up and walked over to the poor dog's food bowl, and I grabbed it. Trevor's ears immediately perked up, his tail wagged in pure delight. I smiled as I put a scoop of his dog chow into it, and put it back to where it once laid on the floor.

I watched as Trevor dash over to the bowl, and began to devour all of its contents with pure delight. I sat down at the table, feeling its wooden surface under my palms as I lost myself in the pictures on the fridge, which was located ten feet away.

I stood up, and walked over in front of it, a smile creeping up on my face. I saw the photo of my mother and I, when I was first brought home. My mother's friend Irene took the picture, I could see my mother's dark hair shine in the summer sun, with me cradled in her arms. Her smile was there, the unforgettable dimples visible, her body clothed in a canary yellow blouse. Her round glasses were at the tip of her nose.

The next picture was of me when I was three, playing with my cousins Annie and Frank, as we played a version of tag that was modified like the game 'Simon Says'. Frank was agitated that day, and that was visible on his face.

The next one I glanced at for a bit of time was when I met Oliver for the first time. We ironically bumped into each other at kindergarten, and he pulled me from the sandbox from which I had fallen. In the photo, you could still see my tear-streaked face as Oliver smiled, his sandy hair was a mess, he hadn't bothered to fix it after class that day. His right arm was draped over my shoulders, and I did the same with my left. I had my eyes shut and my other hand held a peace sign. My hair was pushed behind my right ear and fell to my back.

Another photo had me sitting at the park in fourth grade, when I first began to wear glasses. I was teased that day by Ollie cheered me up with his goofy face, which the picture captured that, and my stifled laughter. The auburn leaves fell all around us, and our coats were wrapped around us to shield from the fall cold. my scarf was moved to hide my ever-growing blush back then. Ollie captured the photo as a selfie.

The next one was taken before a church dance two years ago, he invited me to check out the dance, and my mother took the picture of what we had worn. He wore a navy blue blazer with matching dress pants. and the tie he wore was a bright orange and blue tie, that was neatly tucked in. His hair was gelled to the side. I wore a nice black swing skirt with a white blouse, which had roses marked on them. My hair was held back by a white headband.

And the last photo was of our first day of High School. If I had known that I'd be in this mess, then I wouldn't have smiled as bright as I did in the photo.

I began to notice as of late that I began to cherish him more than most. I realized that I liked him more than a friend.

"Don't think too much, you look like your head is gonna burst." said a voice next to my ear. I jumped and turn around and saw Oliver's goofy grin. I pushed him hard, and he staggered back a bit.

"What the heck was that for?" I half-laughed, half-asked.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that one." he admitted.

"Yeah, you did." I puffed my cheeks, my arms crossing.

"So, where's your mother? Weren't we going to talk about whether or not we tell her..."

"No, she got called in... Into the swing shift..." I mumbled the last bit, he leaned close to hear me.

"Are you sure? Is she really healthy enough to work that late?" I shrugged, I didn't know what to do, or say in that matter.

"All I know is that we need the money, and we both know that I can't work quite yet."

"Even so, that's still no reason to have he-"

"That's enough Ollie" I interrupted, anger building up, "I can't change minds Ollie. And since you're here, want to help me walk Trevor?"

He paused for a moment, as if he was lost in thought. "Sure why not, I'm already here anyway."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Lets get the dog."

"Sure. Just wait a moment as I do so." I walked away over to the pantry and opened it, pulling out the all to familiar black leash.

Trevor ran up to me quickly, and I'm able to feel his eagerness towards his nightly walk. I kneel down and clip the leash on his collar. "I'm ready." I yell out.

"Alright, lets get going." Oliver said, walking over and kneeling as to pet Trevor's silky soft coat.

I managed to glance over at Oliver, who seemed to be paying attention to the dog, I watched in silence as he was rubbing Trevor's stomach. I smiled, my eyes getting lost in his bright green orbs. I felt my face heating up as I realized that I had been staring at him. I stood up and turned around.

"You coming?" I asked, heading towards the door.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, coming!" Oliver followed suit, and we began to walk down towards the nearby park that had a large grassy field.

We had reached the park, and we let Trevor into a caged off area for the dogs to roam freely, while Ollie and I sat on a bench in silence. Since discovering that I had a crush on Ollie, I was a bit frightened at first because I was nervous about it. Eventually, over a bit of time, I had grown accustomed to being around him when there were other people nearby, but at the park it was just the two of us.

And that didn't provide any help whatsoever with my situation, so I didn't look him in the eye, for I knew that I would breakout into a blushing mess. He noted this, and eventually cleared his throat. I turned to look at him.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" he inquired, as if he knew what was on my mind at the moment.

"Like?" came my reply.

"I dunno... Although, as of late, you never really seem to look me in the eye whenever we're alone, and I think that it may be due to... Well... You know..."

"No, it doesn't."

"Then tell me something..."

"What is it?"

"Do you have a crush on anybody?" Those words slammed into me as if I had taken a fist to the stomach.

"I, uh..." I began, my face was definitely red now.

"Skye, I want you to be honest," he added, grabbing my hand and holding it gently, "Because, I need to te-"

"Yeah..." I cut him off, I scanned around, "Wait... Where's Trevor? He was JUST here I swear..." Panic had begun to swell inside.

"Now that you mention it, Trevor DID seem to run off towards the field..."

"Then what're we waiting for? Lets go!" I turned to run off in that direction, but Oliver pulled me close to him.

"Wait! Before you go, I need to tell you something... The reason I noticed is because I-"

"Its okay Ollie! It's you, now let me go so I can find my dog!" I leaned in and pressed my lips to his cheek, giving it a light peck. And before I could respond to what I had just done, I ran off towards the field, my face a vivid bright red, when something peculiar caught my attention.

It was a butterfly, but there was something... Off about it. Instead of the normal two sets of wings, this particular one had three pairs. Its wings were a blue and white, and formed rings around the perimeter, and they were pulsing.

Under normal circumstances, I would've without a doubt ran after my dog, but there was no need, my curiosity got the better, and I was soon running after the insect. I also saw Trevor, who was also chasing this beautiful butterfly, who was fluttering into the cave.

The same cave that my father had disappeared into. I halted suddenly, barely in front of the cave entrance. I stared down its dark depths, the butterfly illuminating a small area as it flapped its wings further in. Trevor too had ran into it.

And against every notion of my body, I decided to run after Trevor.

"Trevor!" I yelled, "Come back boy!" I ran further in, and I felt the temperature rise as I felt a light mist. I pulled out a flashlight, and turned it on, allowing it to brighten the path. The butterfly's light was so far, that it was a tiny speck off in the distance.

I shined the light to the ground, and I saw footprints. Trevor's to be exact. And I followed them down the cave. I eventually reached a small archway, where the prints stopped abruptly. I knew with every fiber of my being that I shouldn't be here, but yet, here I was in the cave.

And with a deep breath, shaky body, and a fluttering heartbeat, I stepped through the archway, hoping that I'd be home for dinner.